Cotton Aphid, or Aphis gossypii, is one of the more common insect pests found in almost all vegetable crops and gardens. They vary significantly in body size and color (from bright yellow, green and dirty brown olive), and adults may have transparent wings or wingless. Damage cause by Cotton Aphids Cotton aphid infestations may result [...]
Description Greenhouse white fly, also known as Trialeurodes vaporariorum is a sap feeder. The easiest way to find white flies is to brush or shake the leaves and look for the white fly adults which fly off. Inspect the undersides of the leaves for the flies. These pets are important vectors of diseases which are [...]
There are various ways viruses can spread throughout the greenhouse. Transmission or method of spreading depends on the virus genes. A virus cannot move from one plant to another by themselves. They must be transmitted by a vector or another organism, most of the time they are insects. Each virus will have a very specific [...]
Everyone has become more knowledgeable about the spread of viruses and the diseases they cause. Just like the COVID virus, we have to understand the life cycle of each virus that cause diseases in greenhouse crops. Effective virus disease control requires controlling or shutting down three important links; the source of the virus, the vector [...]
Well planned spray programs are more effective than unplanned, random chemical applications. Have you ever considered spraying when there is no pests or diseases? Poorly planned spray programs or not following a spray program has the same effect. It costs a lot of money with no advantage other than the chemical supplier. Even nature loses, [...]
Resistance to chemicals is due to the intense selection pressure exerted on the population that is controlled. There is only a limited number of chemicals that are effective to control pests and diseases. This causes a high intensity selection pressure with limited products with the result that evolution is set in overdrive mode. Traits resistant [...]
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Description Thrips tabaci and western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis are sap feeders. Common thrips as in the main image; Order: Thysanoptera, Family: Thripidae. They are extremely small and are difficult to spot, even by experts. They are experts in blending in and are shorter than 1.5mm. There are about 4500 species of thrips. Both winged and [...]
Description Russet mites (Aculops lycopersici, Aculus lycopersici) are so small that a 14X hand lens is needed to see them. Because of their size, these mites are rarely noticed until plants are damaged. At this time, there may be hundreds of yellowish, conical-shaped mites on the green leaves immediately above bronzed leaves. Aceria lycorespici is the tomato [...]
Plusia looper description Plusia looper, also known as Cabbage looper or more correctly Trichoplusia ni are light green caterpillars with white or pale yellow stripes along the sides. It typically moves by arching the middle part of its body upward. The adult moth is active at night (about 1 ½ inches or 3.8 - 4.0 [...]
